Package Bee Installation

Spring is in the air here in the ATL and my 2010 bees arrived just in time. This year I bought two packages from the Walter Kelley company, hoping they would be less aggressive than last year's nucs from Moultrie, GA. They shipped from Kentucky on Saturday, arriving on my doorstep on Tuesday afternoon.


My coworker and fellow beek, Oz, came over to lend a hand, as neither of us had installed a package before.

It's a very straightforward, well-documented process, but neither of us was prepared for the number of bees that took flight. I quickly went from t-shirt and veil to "full monty" suit - getting tagged 3 times before I got changed. You can see all the airborne girls in these two shots.


Once suited up, everything went smoothly. Both queens were alive and well. I installed one and Oz took the second. We were done in less than an hour.

After a cold beer and dinner, I went back out to check on things and found everyone had gone inside for the night.

First Honey Harvest - July 11th 2009

First, I have to clear the bees out of the supers. I chose to use a fume book with Bee Quick sprayed on the inner lining. It is supposed to smell "less bad" compared to other types.

The bees immediately started making their "very unhappy" buzz, but did not coming flying out the front after me. After leaving it on top of the super for about 4 minutes, they were mostly out.

There were still a few clinging to the honey on the bottom, but a leaf blower cleared them out, leaving them slightly stunned in the grass. ;)

After about a half-hour, I had cleared everyone out of all 4 supers and headed over to the Parris' house for extracting.

Getting the supers off was the hard part. Now the fun begins, starting with the "cap scratching."
Here is a pristine frame of honey, nicely capped, just pulled from the super.

Scratch, scratch, scratch...

Then it goes into the extractor. Here's the before shot with lots of dripping honey.

And after the spin cycle...

I was lucky to not have a single blowout (where the centrifugal force rips the foundation from the frame). A few hours later, we open the flood gate and out pours the fruits of their labor.

Straining, and bottling was done the next day.

And the end result: 4.25 gallons nicely packaged.

The bees got to enjoy the strained wax cappings spread out on a cookie sheet. It was quite a scene!

Dangerous Work

Our loveable yard man, Jerry Jackson, recently showed up wearing a rain slicker despite the weather being sunny and hot. When I asked him about it, he said he had gotten stung twice the prior week and was being careful. He then jokingly said, "You know bees don't like black people." I about lost it from laughing. Feeling guilty, I told him to stop cutting about 15 feet from the front of the hives and I would cut the rest. A picture is worth a thousand words...





I did give the guards a few puffs from the smoker before starting and I managed to burn the heck out of my little finger.

Quite a blister! Ouch!

Night Fever, Night Fever (Bee Gees)

As the summer nights get warmer and more humid, more and more of the girls are starting to "chill out" on the landing area of the hive stand and the front face of the hive. Check it out:


A close up of the entrance:

Another friend joins the ranks...

Last night, I went down to Grant Park to help my friend Ozzie install his two nucs.
Aside from having problems getting the smoker fuel to generate any smoke, it was completely by the book. Here's Ozzie getting his suit on.

Nope, still no smoke. Let's try to light it again. :)

The bees were very calm compared to mine, which made life easier. The frames were well stocked with brood.

One down and one to go.

Wait for the shake...

Of course, after we were all done, the smoker started working.

Overall, a good time. Burgers and beers for all after we finished. We did have one casualty, however, when Oz's girlfriend got stung on the cheek. Ouch.

Baby Beekeeper!

My sister had her first baby on Monday, April 6th, making me a proud Uncle. Please welcome Charlie Brunt to the future beekeeper's club!!

Swarm Insanity

Jumpin' Jeebus, have I had swarm fun. I have gone from two hives to five in 7 days. Here are the photos from this morning's capture. I had to buy a new Nuc box from P.N. this morning to house them. This group was clumped on the fence between my house and the neighbors.





Once I got them into the cardboard box and let them calm down, then transfer into the Nuc box was a cinch.


Here's the latest picture of my ever-growing bee yard...


Happy Easter!!